“Grandson!”
But Zende had already leaped off his hapless mount, hit the sand and dodged instinctively as he had been taught and chose a random direction to leap, roll and stand. That move saved his life. He was much faster and more agile than his brothers and sisters as well as superior with his favorite weapons. He whirled his war ax in several blocking maneuvers which banged hard against the armored jaw of the creature that had emerged from the sand and was attempting to clamp down on his torso. Zende’s hits were effective enough to slow the creature’s attack and the stunned reptile slunk back displaying rapid head movements and uttering high pitched clicks. All this happened in less than a moment and Zende still wasn’t sure what had attacked him. The sand vibrated again. He shouted, “Grandmother, Sunside!”
With the swiftness of a professional acrobat, Makhulu leaped high as another massive set of jaws snapped shut where a moment ago, she had been standing. The nightmare beast that swam out of the sand, stood humanlike on two powerful legs but with a long bony tail that whipped about anxiously; it had an impressive row of teeth in his mouth. But it was the large eyes hinting cunning and intelligence rather than brute strength that ruled this prehistoric predator.
“Back!” yelled Zende as he fast stepped forward and attempted again to lop off the head of the monster threatening his grandmother by using one chop with his ax, but again the blow failed to penetrate or severely wound the creature; Zende flipped several times backwards to avoid the rapid retaliatory strikes of the reptilian attacker. He didn’t doubt that one blow from the wildly whipping tail would knock him senseless and shatter human bones.
His grandmother moved swiftly with the grace of a circus dancer and twirled into position to protect the backside of her grandson as the ground erupted anew. But she was ready with her staff and speared the sudden attacker through the gelatinous eyeball and out the back of its skull. She barely flinched as in its death throes, the beast snagged her robe in its forearm claws and ripped it off her body. Her silver hair flowed freely as she nimbly landed and adjusted her scant clothing for modesty revealing a small waist, firm thighs and uplifted breasts. Back to back, neither grandmother nor grandson were breathing hard; they both were confident and surefooted. “Grandson, let none of these beasts survive to warn their master. Aim for the soft parts.”
“Like this,” he screamed as he charged fearlessly forward, lowering his weapon, exposing his own belly, but as the creature lunged at the tempting target, Zende side stepped the snapping jaw and raked his sharp ax along the creature’s unprotected throat and chest. Zende was rewarded by a violent gush of hot blood and guts. The animal screeched in terrible anguish then tumbled twitching to the ground almost pinning down Zende who had to dexterously slip away from the steaming carcass. By now Zende had a full measure of these animals’ strengths and weaknesses.
“There are still two creatures circling cautiously, Grandson. Do you need help from an old woman?”
“Nay, Grandmother. Enjoy the warm breeze. Make some tea! We’ll roast lizard for supper!” He joyfully charged the two perplexed ancient monsters. With three vicious cuts from his war ax, the battle was over. He trotted back with a large chunk of lizard tail for the fire and exclaimed, “Grandmother, your clothing!”
She smiled, embracing the wind with every pore of her bare skin. She grinned, “You’ve never seen a half-naked female warrior, before?” She flexed her slim muscles. “Am I appealing?”
“Grandmother!”
“Thank you! But be a good grandson, lend me your outer garment.” She stared into the heavens and her playful temperament changed. “Something is not right! Gather your father’s royal robe.”
“It stinks!”
“Clean it with dry sand, later. Act quickly, dear Grandson.”
* * *
From a nearby sand dune, many anxious eyes had secretly watched the battle. Wet globs of saliva poured onto the sand from the open mouth of Fabu the Fat Merchant. He exclaimed softly, “Damnations! By the eternal dark Gods! I’m glad we returned! That Afrikan goddess and her black battle troll are the finest gladiators I have ever seen! That woman makes me firm in all the right places. So, make ready my best fighters to kill the bitch!”
Swallow, his reluctant companion, suggested, “I brought you back here, because, she would make an exceptional addition to our collection of souls.”
“She is too dangerous! Your reptilian pets were slaughtered effortlessly.”
“The Demon in the Wall may consider a renegotiation for these minor add-on services.”
Fabu the Fat raised his fleshy arm to thrust 1000 battle hardened, mercenaries into action. But before committing his troops, he hesitated and asked Swallow, “What would your Demon offer?”
“Me, willingly, for all your carnal fantasies,” she said flatly.
“You no longer interest me that much, little bird girl.”
“More gold and diamonds,” suggested Swallow.
“I’m wealthier than most of the Kings on earth, combined.”
“Immortality?”
“I suspect it would be tedious and boring.”
“The Demon in the Wall is not amused.”
“Then offer me something I want, before I send 1000 men to utterly slaughter those 6 humans that are so damn important to your Demon Lord. So, think, bird girl. What is it that I want?”
Swallow frowned, “Fun, entertainment.”
“YES! Give me a few hours with the Afrikan Witchwoman to do whatever I want. Also, I want the gold, immortality, and of course you, little birdie, willingly into my bed; no, I want you unwilling, scratching and clawing. That is my demand to capture her soul and deliver the final crystal to the Demon in the Wall.”
After a moment of contemplation, Swallow said with a trace of displeasure, “Done.”
“Fabulous!” Fabu approached her and cruelly squeezed her small breasts. He pinched her nipples hard between his finger and thumb. Swallow accepted his painful groping with no complaint. Satisfied, he said, “We must play this out elegantly. I will send a token force of men to distract
